Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou says it is no surprise Manchester City have dropped from their “unprecedented standard” following a record run of four successive English titles.
Postecoglou’s side face faltering champions City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday as they look to beat their opponents for the third time this season.
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Spurs’ 2-1 win in the League Cup in October was City’s first loss of the campaign and the start of a woeful run of nine defeats in 12 matches.
Guardiola’s side are now fourth in the table, a huge 20 points behind leaders Liverpool.
“It looks like they’re going through a rough trot at the moment but that’s because of the unbelievable standards they have set since Pep has been there,” Postecoglou told a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
“I think it’s just a way of elite sport, you know and it just sheds light on how extraordinary they have been.
“The fact that they did win four in a row and the consistency of that four in a row of just the sheer numbers they accumulated in terms of points, in terms of goals, in terms of wins, just competing on all (fronts), it’s just an unbelievable and probably unprecedented standard that they set.”
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The Australian, whose Spurs team are 12th in the table, added: “And it’s only natural that that’s never going to continue forever, I mean that’s just not sustainable.”
Spurs’ Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero remain sidelined, with Ben Davies also set to miss out against City, leaving Kevin Danso and out-of-position youngster Archie Gray continuing at the heart of the north London club’s defence.
Spurs, however, were also missing key personnel when they won 4-0 at the Etihad in November.
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“They will have times in the game where they take control and it’s how we deal with that and cope with that. We’ve done that not too bad in the games we’ve played against them and for us that will be the challenging bit,” said Postecoglou.
“When we have our moments, we have to show quality. I know we beat them and the scoreline sounds convincing at their place, but it was the quality of our finishing that was the difference.
“I love coming up against Pep’s teams and am looking forward to it.”
The 34-year-old Walker will join Milan for the remainder of the season in a deal that could become permanent in the summer.
Walker endured a difficult campaign as City captain and had not started a game since their derby loss to Manchester United on December 15.
He ends his long association with City, whom he joined from Tottenham in 2017, after winning six Premier League titles and the 2023 Champions League under Pep Guardiola.
“Manchester City… where do I start? Signing for this incredible club in 2017 was a dream come true,” Walker wrote on social media.
“Seven years later, winning 17 trophies, including the Champions League and the famous treble is something I could only have dreamt as a child.”
Milan are a distant eighth in Serie A but are on course for automatic qualification for the Champions League last 16 after five straight wins in Europe.
In a separate social media post, Walker — who will be reunited with other England internationals Fikayo Tomori, Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek at the San Siro — spoke of his excitement in joining the Italian giants.
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“I’m delighted and proud to sign for AC Milan!” he said.
“A club with such rich history, one I’ve followed since I was a kid. It’s an honour to join and I can’t wait to pull on the Rossoneri shirt and get started.
He added: “A huge thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way, both on and off the pitch. See you soon! Forza Milan.”
His signing helps compensate for the loss of Emerson Royal, who picked up an injury midweek that could rule out the Brazilian right-back for up to two months.
Walker’s exit from the Etihad Stadium comes as part of a City rebuild, with Guardiola’s side currently 12 points adrift of Premier League leaders Liverpool following an unprecedented run of four successive English titles.
Egypt forward Omar Marmoush joined City from Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday on a four-and-a-half-year contract for an initial fee of £59 million ($72.6 million) with add-ons worth a potential £4 million.
He is City’s third signing of the January transfer window following the arrivals of defenders Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.
Manchester City roared back into form with a 6-0 thrashing of Ipswich, while Nottingham Forest’s unlikely title challenge goes on after a 3-2 victory over Southampton took Nuno Espirito Santo’s men level with second-placed Arsenal.
– ‘We are worst team in history of Man Utd’: Amorim –
Ruben Amorim made the astonishing admission that his Manchester United flops are the worst team in the club’s history after Sunday’s dismal 3-1 defeat against Brighton.
United crumbled to a sixth loss in 11 Premier League games since Amorim arrived from Sporting Lisbon to replace the sacked Erik ten Hag.
“We are the worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United,” Amorim said after his side’s wretched display at Old Trafford.
“I know you want headlines but I am saying that because we have to acknowledge that and to change that. Here you go: your headlines.”
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Amorim’s side are languishing in 13th place and although they are 10 points above the relegation zone, they are far from certain to avoid being dragged into the survival struggle on the evidence of Sunday’s display.
Yankuba Minteh set the tone for United’s moribund performance with an early opener for Brighton.
Bruno Fernandes equalised with a penalty before half-time, but second-half goals from Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter left United in turmoil.
United have suffered six home league defeats this season, their most from their opening 12 matches of a season since 1893-94.
They have also lost 10 of their 22 league games this season, the earliest into a top-flight campaign that they have hit double figures for defeats since 1989-90.
“Imagine what this is for a fan of Manchester United. Imagine what this is for me. We are getting a new coach who is losing more than the last coach. I have full knowledge of that,” Amorim said.
While United have not been dragged completely into the fight for survival just yet, Amorim must find a way to get results to avoid the pressure on him becoming intolerable.
The 39-year-old arrived at United in November, hailed as one of Europe’s brightest young coaches.
But his preferred 3-4-3 formation is not suited to the players in United’s squad.
Yet, while he admitted he is only thinking of avoiding relegation now, the Portuguese coach refuses to change his philosophy.
“I am not going to change, no matter what. I know we can succeed but we need to survive this moment. I am not naive. We need to survive now,” Amorim said.
United’s latest calamity came on the day the club paid a sombre tribute to Denis Law after their legendary striker passed away aged 84 on Friday.
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– ‘Everybody is underperforming’ –
Law is immortalised in a statue of United’s ‘Holy Trinity’ alongside Bobby Charlton and George Best outside Old Trafford.
Fans laid scarves and flowers at the statue in tribute to the third highest scorer in United’s history and took part in a minute’s applause for Law prior to kick-off.
What transpired after that would have shocked Law to his core as Amorim’s team once again failed to live up to the storied history of the 20-time English champions.
“In nine games in the Premier League, we won two,” Amorim said. “Everybody here is underperforming, no matter what the circumstances.
“We are underperforming and have to accept that. It’s unacceptable to lose so many games, for any Premier League club, imagine Manchester United.
“So it’s a really hard moment but we have to continue, we have to continue, there is no other way.”
United have lost six of their last seven league games against Brighton in an indication of how far they have fallen since last winning the title in 2013.
Amorim’s side host Rangers in their next game on Thursday in the Europa League, with the manager desperate for a positive result to change the mood.
“I knew it was going to be hard to put a completely new idea in the moment, but when you lose games and don’t win three games in a row it becomes really hard,” Amorim said.
“So that’s why I’m telling we are going to suffer because I will continue to do the same.
“I am just here to help my players, but we need to understand we are breaking all the bad records.”
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– Foden stars as Man City hit Ipswich for six –
Phil Foden struck twice as Manchester City climbed to fourth in the Premier League with a 6-0 rout of struggling Ipswich on Sunday.
Foden netted either side of Mateo Kovacic’s eye-catching goal as City blew Ipswich away with three first-half goals at Portman Road.
Jeremy Doku, Erling Haaland and James McAtee netted after the interval as City enjoyed their biggest league win this season.
Pep Guardiola’s side have won three of their last four league games as they begin the long climb back to respectability after a dismal start to the season.
Sterner tests lie in wait for City, including a vital Champions League trip to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday and looming Premier League clashes with Chelsea and Arsenal.
But this was the kind of confident display City used to make look routine during their march to four successive English titles.
Winning is almost certain to prove beyond them as they trail leaders Liverpool by 12 points.
Guardiola will settle for restoring City’s pride this term as he rebuilds a team that suddenly grew old and inconsistent before his eyes.
Haaland, who has scored 112 goals in just 127 appearances for City, this week committed himself to the club until 2034 when he signed a new nine-and-a-half year deal.
But Kyle Walker was again absent from the City side amid reports that AC Milan are ready to bid for the unsettled England right-back.
In City’s first visit to Portman Road for 23 years, the champions emphasised how powerful they can still be at peak form.
– Ruthless City –
Haaland scored a hat-trick when City beat Ipswich 4-1 in August and he threatened to net in the opening moments in Suffolk.
Kovacic’s pass split the Ipswich defence and sent Haaland clean through on goal, but the Norway striker’s shot was pushed away by Christian Walton.
Kovacic fired wastefully over after a flowing move carved open the Ipswich rearguard again.
Omari Hutchinson almost put Ipswich ahead against the run of play with a stinging strike from just inside the area that hit Haaland and flashed just over.
But City’s pressure was rewarded in the 27th minute when Doku and Kevin De Bruyne combined to set up Foden for a clinical close-range finish.
Foden turned provider as ruthless City doubled their lead three minutes later. Kovacic strode onto Foden’s pass on the edge of the area and smashed a superb low strike past the flat-footed Walton for his first goal since October.
Guardiola’s men were rampant and they struck again three minutes before half-time.
Set free by Doku, De Bruyne raced into the area and cut the ball back for Foden, whose shot from five yards evaded Walton’s weak attempted save.
The England forward’s fifth goal in his last four games maintained his recent improvement.
City have scored 25 first-half goals in 22 games, more than any other team in the Premier League this season.
Ipswich were powerless to stem the tide. Doku danced through their defence to score City’s fourth with a low shot that hit Dara O’Shea on its way past Walton in the 49th minute.
City showed no mercy and Haaland joined the party in the 57th minute. Jack Clarke conceded possession and Doku teed up Haaland to drill past Walton for his 22nd goal in all competitions this season.
McAtee came off the bench to bag City’s sixth in the 69th minute, the 22-year-old looping a header over Walton from Kovacic’s cross.
Forest were equally rampant in the first 45 minutes to cut the gap on leaders Liverpool to six points and consolidate their lead in the race for a place in the Champions League next season.
Elliot Anderson, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Chris Wood netted before the break. Southampton salvaged some pride in the second period through Jan Bednarek and Paul Onuachu but they remain on course for an immediate return to the Championship, 10 points adrift of safety.
